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Public safety bills a top item for Colorado lawmakers

By Kurtis LeeThe Denver Post

Posted:
01/16/2014 12:01:00 AM MST

(Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

At a time when Colorado's parole system is under intense scrutiny and a recent shooting at Arapahoe High School has gripped the state, lawmakers are poised to present bills they say will accomplish a single goal: Enhance public safety.

In addition to parole and school-safety bills, measures that touch on everything from drunken driving to drug and DNA testing are set to be heard in committees in the coming weeks.

It's typical of any session to see an array of public-safety bills, but in a year, where all 65 House seats and 17 Senate seats are up for reelection in November, the focus on these issues can be amplified.

"Sure, some issues are more important to voters, like the jobs and the economy, but law and order is on the list," said Floyd Ciruli, a local political analyst and pollster.

And while some of these bills may be mere campaign-trail talking points with little chance of passing, others may well become law.

"What we want to do is pass laws that protect the public and are backed up by data and facts," said Senate President Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, whose caucus has a one-seat majority. "I haven't read 100 percent of the bills out there, so I don't know if politics are at play. But in public safety, we want to pass bills backed by data, not rhetoric."

Carroll and Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, are carrying a bipartisan bill that would move the Safe2Tell program to the state attorney general's office. The program gives students in grades K-12 a hotline to report school-safety problems. From 2004 to 2013, the hotline received more than 9,000 tips.

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"It's proven, and it works," Carroll said.

In 2013, Democrats passed several gun-control measures they promoted as "gun safety" legislation. Most Republicans didn't see it that way and voted against the measures, arguing, for example, there's no data that prove shootings are less likely to happen with limits to ammunition magazines. Now, the GOP plans to propose repeal bills and expand gun-rights as a matter of public safety, including a measure to allow school officials to be armed.

"Schools need to have these options available to keep children safe. The option is necessary, and there are security experts that recommend armed officers can keep kids safe," said Rep. Steve Humphrey, R-Severance, the sponsor of the bill to arm teachers, which has yet to be introduced. The measure, says Humphrey, has no support from House Democrats, who control the chamber.

On Wednesday, Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, said the death of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements factored into his sponsoring a bill that addresses parolees.

Under his legislation, which is backed by Democrats, parolees who remove or tamper with their electronic monitoring device would be subject to a warrantless arrest.

"This provides a stronger deterrent for people who might consider driving while intoxicated," said Waller, who is running for attorney general.

A Waller colleague across the House aisle, Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, plans to revisit legislation that would require a DNA sample to be submitted for certain convictions. Although Pabon is still working on details on the measure, it is already the case in Colorado that individuals arrested on a felony charge and some misdemeanors involving unlawful sexual conduct are required to provide the state with a DNA sample.